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Show CLAIM THAT G OR BET T WAS IN POOR SHAPE Denver "Writer Says High Living- Put Ex-Champion to the End, Both Physically and Financially. Thero is now very little reason, says tho Denver Times, to doubt that Champion Cham-pion Corbott was 'way out of condition when ho entered tho ring for Ills fight with Brltt. Thero 13 no doubt that ho underrated Brltt to such an extent that ho neglected his training. The fact that ho mado a proposition to divide tho purso with Brltt Just beforo tho men entered tho ring shows that ho realized himself that ho was not right Graney, who has reforecd all tho , big fights on the coast In'whlch Corbett has been one of the, principals, prin-cipals, says that he never saw the Denver man put up a slower fight All theso tilings show conclusively that Corbett was not right, hut tho strongest evidence-of evidence-of all Is tho fact that when the champion left for Chicago a fow day3 ago ho had Just $300 loft after paying his debts. During Dur-ing his last visit to tho coast, which began with a victory over Hanlon and ended with tho defeat at tho hands of ll5.,h. porbolt gathered In purses about J20.WO. Every cent of this, with tho exception ex-ception of the 1300 mentioned above, was spent. A man getting right for a battle cannot spend $20,000 nnd deliver the goods when he entors the rJng. Corbett was in Denver Just beforo his last fight with Hanlon. and had to borrow the money with which to get out of town. It Is pretty safe to say that during tho last year he has spent from 520.0CO to tfO.OOO. Corbett won tho championship Hm McGovem on Thanksgiving day. 1001. Since that time he has met and defeated all the best boys In his class and has pulled down some of the biggest purses tbjit tho little fellows have ever received, and yet when ho suffers his first defeat ho lias only to show for all he has mado. A boy who spends his money at that rato cannot keep at tho head of a class of uthlotcs, who aro tho best trained of any In tho world, for any length of tlmo. Corbett Is a spendthrift proper. If ho had planted tho coin which ho made so easily in tho ring tho Income from It at this tlmo would bo large enough to permit him to indulge In his high-rolling Idcaa of "how to llvo." Few champions have the brains or the courage to hold on to the dough. Tho fighting game Is old enough to have any number of bad examples ex-amples to steer tho champions off the rocks, but they go to the old game just as though thuv believed themsoivcB better bet-ter men than the fellows who have gone to seed ahead of them. John L. Sullivan made hundreds of thousands of dollars In tho ring, and now. at tho ago of 46, ho Is totally dependent upon his friends for enough charity to keep him alive. Dixon played the same game with the same results, re-sults, but thero Is no peed of citing tho men who havo gone over the samo routo which Corbett has traveled, as it Is easier to clto tho men In tho opposlto class. McGovcrn planted his coin In real estato and is rich now, Tommy Ryan has a pretty good wad. and' there are a fow others In tho gamo yet who show a disposition dis-position to hang onto their coin. Whether tho decision which Graney rendered In San Francisco Is Just or not. It is curtain that Corbett stacked up against tho hardest hard-est fipht that he has had sinco ho won tho title of champion. This is tho first stop on tho downward path and he is likely to stand In tho ring and take a knockout almost any tlmo now. A Denver man who has followed him closely says that there Is no doubt that tho decision rendered against him in San Francisco marks tho close of hln career. Ho knows the habits of the champion and says that he will dlsslpato to such an extent now that tho next tlmo ho crawls through tho ropes to meet Britt ho will bo a poorer fighter by at least 10 per cent and Brltt wSll hnvo Improved at least that much. This will glvo Brltt such a wide margin on form that he will havo' nn easy tlmo copping the champion. Few of tho Corbett Cor-bett admirers will accept this brand of dope, but it must bo admitted that thero la a great deal in it when It Is realized how the champion ha3 been going through his wealth. "Spider" "Welch, a New Candidate- for the Light-weight Championship. |
